9.24.2010

creative destruction

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Blockbuster Video has filed for bankruptcy.

The leaps and bounds by which the business of disseminating video content has improved in the last three decades is really pretty astonishing when you think about it. I can remember looking at shelves of Betamax videos of Star Wars in the early 80's that sold for around $60. Now I have unlimited instant access to more movies and TV shows than I will ever watch, plus unlimited DVD delivery, for less than $20/month.

One wonders what could happen to, say, the auto or airline industry if companies were actually allowed to rise and fall with the same meteoric trajectory as Blockbuster was.

3 comments:

chris said...

Too bad they couldn't regulate their way into eternity...

Dave said...

I think I still have a blockbuster card in my wallet. And I'm sure if I attempted to use it they would remind me of some late fee from the mid-1990s that I never paid. And apparently never will.

Blockbuster ... good riddance.

Brian said...

I still have one, too.

I once opened a second account at a different branch in Tucson shortly after moving apartments...I had a couple of late fees on the old account, so when they asked me if I was the same Brian that lived on Ft. Lowell, I said (technically truthfully) that I was not.

They caught up with me about 6 months later and charged my credit card.